Gavignet becomes event’s most successful captain after team wins in Oman

The team around him changes each year, but the constant presence of Sidney Gavignet guided EFG Bank Monaco to a third straight victory in the EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour (SATT).

Third place in the final leg from Sohar to Muscat on Monday was enough to seal top spot for the reigning champions, who finished seven points clear with wins in three of the five offshore stages and two of the three in-port races.

Gavignet’s victory in the sixth installment of the tour cements his place as the most successful skipper in event history, surpassing the two wins by fellow Frenchman Bertrand Pace (2012 and 2013).

“I’m very happy,” Gavignet told Sport360.

“Every year I come with a different team and that’s part of my personal challenge. To build a team is very exciting. I’ve been lucky this year because I put together some people I discovered. The team-work was easy and efficient, it was a great pleasure.”

Hunt holds nerve and claims gold at FINA World Cup in AD

Gary Hunt put on a performance when it really mattered and showed why he’s the world champion by taking gold in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

After dominating the first day of the FINA High Diving World Cup on Saturday, the Briton continued that form with two impressive dives.

That saw the 31-year-old sit top of the standings ahead of his final round.

He was under more pressure given his nearest rivals Jonathan Paredes and 2014 champion Orlando Duque overtook him, having taken their last jumps.

But Hunt remained calm from 27 metres high and his sequence of three forward somersaults and three-and-a-half twists was enough to seal his first World Cup triumph with a total of 639.30 points, 60.60 ahead of runner-up Paredes.

Richard clinches FINA High Diving World Cup gold in Abu Dhabi

At the Abu Dhabi Yacht and Sailing Club, the Canadian sent out an early warning to her rivals by topping the standings in the first two rounds.

In her final jump from 20 metres high, the 34-year-old wowed the seven judges with an amazing somersault with perfect precision and technique. Her reward was a gold medal having accumulated a total of 253.80 points.

It was enough to hold off Australia’s Helena Merten and USA’s Ginger Huber, who finished second and third places, having won 229.60 and 209.85 points respectively.

With the world’s best high divers in the capital, it was no surprise that Richard was ecstatic with her victory.

“I’m really happy to have won,” she said. “It’s good to have come first but I know it wasn’t perfect and I still need to improve. However, it’s a great achievement for me.

“This definitely has to be at the top,” she said. “The rest of the divers were really strong and every year they are showing signs of improvement. It’s hard to predict who can win the tournament but I always remain focused on what I need to do. It’s important that I do even better next time.”

Runner-up Merten came into the final round in third position and could not hide her emotions after clinching silver.

“It’s such an incredible feeling,” said the 26-year-old. “I just can’t believe it. To have come here to Abu Dhabi in a competition where the best divers are competing and win a medal is absolutely amazing.

“Any competition will be tough but today I decided to keep calm and control my nerves and remain focused.

“I always said to myself that I can do amazing dives so the self-confidence was always there. My training sessions were going really well and I just wanted to replicate the dives during the competition and I did exactly that.”

Despite achieving a podium finish, the Australian insists there’s still room for improvement.

“I still need to improve my technique a lot,” she said. “It was very good today but I want to work even harder and continue my form. Maybe in a few weeks time, I can starting working on new diving moves.”